Although this dish might not be of the liking of many people, especially outside the Dominican Republic, our collection would be incomplete without it. This is a favorites of most Dominicans, and if you have no qualms about it, we encourage you to try it.

Time: 90 Mins
Difficulty: Advanced
Serve: 6 people

Before starting to cook: Boil the tripe in half a gallon of water until tender, add the juice of two lemons. Cut into small pieces.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of pork tripe, clean and stripped of fat.
• 3 lemons cut into halves
• 4 green bell peppers
• 1 cup of chopped celery
• 2 red onions chopped into small cubes
• 6 plum tomatoes cut into 4 quarters
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of mashed garlic
• 1 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce (may be omitted)
• Salt

Preparation:

1. In a pot heat the oil add the tripe and the rest of the ingredients. Add 2 cups of water. Let simmer at low heat until all the ingredients are tender adjusting water when necessary. Adjust salt to taste.
   
2. Serve while hot. Garnish with the remaining lime, and serve with a few slices of avocado and white rice.

Be mindful, Mondongo takes a long time to cook..........

Mondongo is perhaps my favorite Dominican food, right up there with old style masita criolla. Many people will thoroughly enjoy this if the can only be suckered....errr...."convinced" to try this "traditional pork stew" without getting overly anatomically specific as to just what part of the pig it features. I do have to admit though, that this is one of the few dishes I won't prepare at home simply because in the early stages of cooking, tripe tends to stink up the house.

Not cooking this myself, I can't make specific comments on the how-to but I notice some differences between this recipe and the versions that I've known.

• The green bell peppers would work but I've always seen aji (cubanella peppers) used and I tend to think the flavor is better.
• There's no cilantro (aka recaito or verdadura depending on what part of the RD) in the recipe, which I took to be a given.
• The best mondongos I know all use pig's foot for extra flavor and to thicken the stew though if you have fussy eaters you'll probably want to pass on this.
• I've never seen lemons, in the North American sense, in the mercaditos I visit though any sour citrus flavor would work. I'll have to remember to ask if my favorite restaurant uses naranja agria (sour orange) or limone (lime or often "key lime" in North America) for flavor.

Mondongo is normally served with cut limones and a bottle of salsa picante to permit one to adjust the flavor to their own preferences. The common Dominican salsa picante works but if you have the option, use something with better flavor like Tabasco or one of the milder Mexican brands like Tapatio. French fries or tostones are common accompaniments as well as the mentioned rice. Another tasty option is to serve this as the Mexicans serve their version of tripe stew, Menudo. Finely diced raw onion and jalapeno pepper as well as cut limes are served on the side to adjust flavor to taste. Fresh warm flour tortillas round it out.